So what are the dungeons like?

Locithon

Just wondering what the dungeons are like so far, are they similar to WoW's? Are they all for a full group....and what's the group size in this game...is it 5 or 6?  How often are there dungeons...like is there one every 10 levels?  Are there max level dungeons?

killerwig

Originally posted by Locithon

Just wondering what the dungeons are like so far, are they similar to WoW's? Are they all for a full group....and what's the group size in this game...is it 5 or 6?  How often are there dungeons...like is there one every 10 levels?  Are there max level dungeons?

Depends which dungeon you go into. Quite a few quests require you to go into a dungeon to continue a storyline, and have quite a few scripted events as you adventure though them - all connected to whatever quest story you're on. You can either group for them if they're too difficult to complete solo, or wait for a few levels to try and brave them yourself. Most dungeons are tied to story-driven content and quests, but you can also just wander into many of them if you like - like The Great Barrow in the Barrow Downs - (but wouldn't suggest it without friends if you're too low level).

It isn't such a chore to find a group in LOTRO, maybe apart from the quiet times at like 3am or something, but I've had no problem at all finding others to team with. LOTRO has a great social panel for finding players who are in fellowships or looking for members - and probably the best I've seen in an MMO so far. Pretty painless stuff so far. Full group size is 6 players, with further options to connect them for raids. Standard faire here.

Not seen any "max level" dungeons so far, but instancing takes away the woes of dungeons being "farmed" by high level players. There are a few that aren't instanced, and you can happily wander into them to see players fighting everything everywhere. I once zoned ito one and it was like a battle in there; kinda crazy but a lot of fun trying to stay alive - everyone helping each each other, while not being in any cohesive group etc.

Dungeons are scattered all over the place, included as quests in the main story arc, and with plenty of side quests leading to different scenarios based within a dungeon. There's plenty of various dungeon-based content for you to get your teeth into before level 10.

Hope this helps.

Kyleran

Killer gave a great summary....I'll toss in my experience from last night...



Was hunting with my son and 2 new friends we've made in the game (we all were level 16 or 15) in the past week.  We did a quest line called Sharkey's revenge, and the final quest had us explore a cave. 



We went inside, got a quest to kill a boss and some trash mobs..and while the trash was a piece o'cake, we charged right in on the group of 4 elites...and went down in flames......whoops.



Regrouped outside, picked up 2 more players who happened to be standing around (including a Minstrel) and went back inside and made short work of the bad guys.



Couple of nice features, although one person in the group didn't have the quest, he was allowed to help us and the quest appeared in his log (but was removed once we were done)



But the best features of dungeons are.... say a group is in a dungeon and loses a member.... they can invite a new person who just has to go to a nearby scrying (?) pool located in most towns and he will be teleported right to the outside of the instance.(but not the exact location of the party)



Its a big time saver for filling in open slots....



Oh yes...another nice idea.... the in-game chat system can be turned on by everyone in the group and all have voicechat with each other. In my Sharkeys group the 4 of us were using it..and when the 2 joined they had it on already..so instant voice chat for everyone... was very helpful coordinating my son's burgler fellowship attacks....

Locithon

Yes, thanks for the info.  It seems like your both describing some "mini-dungeons" of sort.  I guess my real question is there full fledged instanced dungeons with multiple bosses and trash that takes hours to complete.  The Deadmins from WoW would be an example of a low level "full" dungeon I guess.

killerwig

The Great Barrow is close to what you're talking about. You can complete that as part of the main story arc at around level 15 with friends, but venturing inside once more for the later quests it's around level 20+. It's not quite as big as the DM, but should keep you busy for about 30 or 45 mins. I expect there will be much bigger dungeons and even raid dungeons later on.

One thing to note though, that for me personally, the "atmosphere" of the dungeons is far, far better than what I experienced in WoW. For instance, the Great Barrow has swirling ground mist in the lower portions of the dungeon that you wade through. The Wights break out of the earth suddenly through the mist and effect you with dread, which makes the screen slightly warp and darken at the edges. You might also see the burning eye of Sauron flash up on your screen when you're near bosses or paticularly hard elite mobs. The Great Barrow itself is a series of burial chambers, with glistening walls, broken columns, swirling mist, ancient tombs - it all adds such a depth of feeling to the experience that is lacking from anything else I played.

shermon15

The Great Barrows was quite an experience with the wights breaking through the ground and the walls.  The finale was cool with an unexpected friend coming in to help.  I really felt apart of the story.  This version of the Great Barrows was based on a quest story line.  The higher level one is definetley more like that other games  first dungeon.